SELECTED GROWTH VARIABLES, NUTRIENT UPTAKE, AND YIELD OF Zea mays L. CULTIVATED WITH CO-COMPOSTED WASTES

PEREMALATHA A/P RAMADASS18240

SUPERVISORASSOC. PROF. DR. AHMED OSUMANU HARUNA

INTRODUCTION

Maize (Zea mays L.) is valuable food crop that is produced after rice and wheat (Oladejo et al., 2012).

Maize has a high demand for nutrients.

Soils are highly weathered in under tropical environment with high rainfall and temperature throughout the year, resulting in leaching of plant nutrients to support plant growth (Shamshuddin, 2011). Figure 1: Zea mays L.

Figure 2 : World-wide Consumption Of Fertilizer Nutrients (FAO, 2011).

Malaysia’s total import bill for N, P2O5, and K2O was

approximately US$ 3 billion in 2008 (Sabri, 2009).

Cost of inorganic fertilizers is very high and sometimes it is

not available in the market (Narkhede, 2011).

Nutrient poor soil can be improved by adding chemical

fertilizers and inorganic fertilizers(e.g. compost) (Robert, 2007).

In 2010, Malaysia rice fields

produced 2.46 MT of paddy husk

and 1.58 MT of rice (DOA, 2010).

Common practice of clearing

paddy husk after harvesting is by

burning causes environmental

pollution.

Figure 3: Burning of Paddy Husk.

Paddy Husk

Malaysia is the 3rd largest producer of poultry meat in Asia

Pacific Region (Market Watch Report, 2012).

Inappropriate treatment and disposal can cause pollute the

environment.

Chicken Manure

Co-composting is composting

of a mixture of two or more

types of wastes (Hog, 1996).

Blending of agriculture wastes

should balance and satisfy the

C:N ratio (Hog, 1996).

Co-composting

Figure 4 : Compost(paddy husk and chicken manure).

Co-composting of high C:N ratio (paddy husk) with low

C:N ratio (chicken manure) are consider to provides

sufficient carbon for microbes to immobilize the excess N

and minimize NO3- leaching from the low C/N ratio

materials (Wu et al., 2010).

Co-composting

Clinoptilolite zeolite was added to the compost to retain nutrients.

Zeolites can improves long term soil quality by increasing its absorption ability of plant nutrients such as N and K (Polat et al., 2004).

Figure 5 : Zeolite in powder form.

Clinoptilolite Zeolite

Abundance production of agricultural waste :

1. Have its impact on the environment.

2. Increase of waste managing cost.

It is important to consider :

1. Environmental concerns.

2. Economic optimization.

PROBLEMS AND JUSTIFICATION

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of :

1. Compost produced by co-composting paddy husk and

chicken manure on selected growth variables of Zea mays L.

2. Compost produced by co-composting paddy husk and

chicken manure on N, P, K uptake and yield of Zea mays L.

OBJECTIVES

Use of compost produced by co-composting paddy husk

and chicken manure will improve maize growth, N, P, and K

uptake and yield production compared to the existing

fertilizer recommended for Zea mays L. production.

HYPOTHESIS

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Urea

Triple Super Phosphate (TSP)

Compost (co-composting paddy husk and chicken manure

were be obtained from a research project)

Muriate Of Potash (MOP)

Clinoptilolite Zeolite

Maize seed (hybrid F1)

MATERIALS

Experimental Site : Share Farm of Universiti Putra Malaysia of Bintulu Campus, Sarawak.

Design : Randomized Complete Block (RCBD)

5 Treatments 3 Blocks Main plot size : 10 m x 10 m. Plant density : i) 60 cm –

within rows; 60 cm between rows.

Treatment plot : 2.4 m between blocks; 1 m between plot.

10m

10m

2.4m

1m

FIELD LAYOUT

Treatment Treatment DetailsT0 Soil only T1 7.4 g Urea + 5.0 g TSP + 3.8 g MOP

T2 7.4 g Urea + 5.0 g TSP + 3.8 g MOP + 192 g Clinoptilolite Zeolite

T3 5.55g Urea + 3.75 g TSP + 2.85 g MOP + 192 g Clinoptilolite Zeolite + 192 g Compost

T4 3.70 g urea + 2.50 g TSP + 1.90 g MOP + 192 g Clinoptilolite Zeolite + 385 g Compost

The rates of N fertilizer (DOA, 2009) and compost (John et al., 2003) were scale down of the standard fertilizer recommendation for the test crop.

Treatments evaluated were:

1. Soil Sampling

METHODS

2. Bed Preparation

3. Planting

Variables Measured in the Field :1. Number of Leaves2. Height of Plants (cm)

4. Data Collection

Figure 6: Maize frm T4R2 40DAP Figure 7: Maize frm T2R1 40DAP

5. Harvesting

Figure 8: Cutting the maize shoot Figure 9: Weighing the maize cobs

6. Soil Sampling

7. Soil and Plant Analysis

ANALYSIS METHODpH Glass electrode (Peech,

1965).

Nitrogen Kjedhal method followed by steam distillation (Tan, 2005).

Available Phosphorus

Double Acid Method followed by Blue Method (Murphy and Riley, 1962).

Potassium Double Acid Method followed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) for analysis.

ANALYSIS METHODNitrogen Kjedhal method followed by

steam distillation (Bremmer, 1965).

Phosphorus Single Dry Ashing Method (Tan, 2005) followed by Blue Method Colour Development (Murphy and Riley, 1962).

Potassium Single Dry Ashing Method (Tan, 2005) followed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) for analysis.

Soil Analysis Plant Tissue Analysis

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test

treatment effects and treatment means were

compared using Tukey’s Test. Statistical Analysis

System (SAS Version 9.3) was used for the statistical

analysis.

DATA ANALYSIS

RESULTS

Chemical CharacteristicsValue

(Mean ± S.E.)Standard data range*

pH water 4.25 ± 0.05 4.60

Total N (%) 0.15 ± 0.01 0.04 - 0.17

Total P (%) 0.005 ± 0.001 nd

Available P (mg kg-1) 2.16 ± 0.08 nd

Exchangeable NH4+ (mg kg-1) 12.35 ± 0.12 nd

Available NO3- ( mg kg-1)

2.12 ± 0.01 nd

Exchangeable K+ (cmol kg-1) 0.36 ± 0.02 0.19

Table 1: Selected chemical characteristics of Nyalau Series before planting.

Note: *Standard data range reported by Paramanathan (2000); nd= not determined.

Chemical Characteristics T0 T1 T2 T3 T4

pH KCl 5.72b ± 0.26 5.82ab ± 0.11 6.22ab ± 0.148 6.48a ± 0.15 6.15ab ± 0.08

Total N (%) 0.18b ± 0.04 0.45a ± 0.03 0.39a ± 0.04 0.41a ± 0.02 0.44a ± 0.03

Available P (%) 0.004a ± 0.002 0.003a ± 0.0003 0.002a ± 0.001 0.002a ± 0.001 0.004a ± 0.002

Exchangeable K+ (cmol kg-1) 5.96b ± 0.39 10.07a ± 0.64 11.89a ± 0.44 11.77a ± 0.14 11.05a ± 0.75

Exchangeable NH4+ (mg kg-1) 47.60b ± 2.80 534.67a ± 43.47 709.33a ± 18.67 601.33a ± 45.63 624.00a ± 48.00

Available NO3- (mg kg-1) 110.50b ± 1.5 276a ± 32.578 260a ± 34.020 238ab ± 17.243 257.33a ± 14.667

Table 2: Effects of treatments on selected chemical characteristics on soil at 72 days after planting.

Note: Different alphabets within column indicate significant difference between means using Tukey’s Test at P ≤ 0.05. ± represent standard error.

Selected Growth Variables of Zea mays.L

Figure 10: Effects of treatments on height of maize plant.

Figure 11: Effects of treatments on leaves numbers of maize plant.

10 20 30 40 50 600

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

T0 T1 T2 T3

days

heig

ht o

f mai

ze p

lant

(cm

)

10 20 30 40 50 600

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

T0 T1 T2 T3 T4

days

num

ber o

f lea

ves

Trt Cob Weight (kg/ha)

Grains/cob

(grain)Row of grains/cob

(row) Grains in a row/cob

T0 1.5b ± 0.0003 242.50b ± 4.5 13.5b ± 0.5 18.00b ± 1

T1 6.6a ± 0.0003 648.00a ± 15.59 24.00a ± 0.58 27.00a ± 0

T2 6.4a ± 0.0004 657.33a ± 22.43 24.33a ± 0.33 27.00a ± 0.58

T3 6.5a ± 0.0002 681.67a ± 21.67 23.00a ± 1 29. 67a ± 0.33

T4 6.6a ± 0.0002 709.00a ± 8.02 25.33a ± 0.33 28.00a ± 0.58

Table 3: Effects of treatments on maize cobs after planting.

Note: Different alphabets within column indicate significant difference between means using Tukey’s Test at P ≤ 0.05.

Trt Dry weight, (g)Total Uptake, (g plant-1)

N P KT0 25.58b ± 13 0.11b ± 5.41 0.03d ± 1.44 0.05b ± 2.77

T1 121.98a ± 6.41 1.77a ± 22.31 0.67c ± 3.45 1.76a ± 10

T2 133.38a ± 1.52 2.06a ± 7.36 1.01ab ± 2.22 2.05a ± 3.58

T3 125.64a ± 9.99 2.17a ± 22.02 0.92b ± 4.42 2.09a ± 16.34

T4 135.31a ± 8.88 2.18a ± 15.79 1.17a ± 7.86 2.13a ± 9.49

Table 4: Effects of treatments on Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium uptake of maize shoot.

Note: Different alphabets within column indicate significant difference between means using Tukey’s Test at P ≤ 0.05.

DISCUSSION

The increase in plant height is the result from increased soil fertility and available plant nutrient elements in soil (Arif et al. 2012).

Composted rice husk has proved its potential in growth promotion and improvement in biochemical parameters of plants (Rabia and Shamim, 2014).

The addition of chemical fertilizer and compost affect different natural processes in the soil where compost enhances the organic matter percentage of soil. Increase in soil pH increases the availability of soil nutrients for the plants (Ghulam et al. 2007).

Combination of organic fertilizer and reduced rate of inorganic fertilizers to boost yield as well as to maintain and improve soil health (Morteza et al. 2011).

Application of organic manure in combination with chemical fertilizers increased absorption of N, P and K and higher yield in crops compared to chemical fertilizers alone (Oad et al.

2004).

Yield components and biomass (leaf and stem dry weight) were also significantly increased with application of poultry manure which resulted in an overall increase in grain yield/ha (Akongwubel et al.

2012).

Treatments with zeolite showed the best N, P and K uptake in plant tissues because of less leaching of these nutrients. Zeolites help to retain nutrients in root zone and, therefore, improving the long term soil quality by enhancing nutrient absorption (Ahmed et al. 2010).

CONCLUSION

Compost produced by co-composting paddy husk and chicken manure resulted in improving the growth, increasing the dry matter production, yield and N, P and K uptake in Zea mays L.

The treatments with compost, T3 and T4 improved N, P and K uptake and increased in the yield.

Combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers leads to saving of inorganic fertilizers due to application of compost in T4.

Integration of organic and inorganic nutrients should be practised. This will enhance growth, yield, quality, nutrient uptake of maize and also conserve agro-ecosystem for sustainable crop production.

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REFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ASSOC. PROF. DR. AHMED OSUMANU HARUNAPOSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

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